


Talent Shows and Technobabble

by Theresalwaysamystery



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Hunk bakes, Hunk helps pidge out, Hunk is an amazing friend and helps her out, Pidge has to interact with people and isn't so sure about that, Pidge uses classic earth things to help with negotiating an alliance, Voltron Positivity Exchange, read it it will make sense, the others are mentioned but don't really talk, this is mostly Pidge and Hunk, ugh i'm trying really hard to to be spoilery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 14:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theresalwaysamystery/pseuds/Theresalwaysamystery
Summary: The Paladins are asked to participate in an exchange of talents to solidify their newest alliance- Pidge isn't sure about her people skills and Hunk is right there to help her figure things out.





	Talent Shows and Technobabble

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Voltron Positivity Exchange for Tumblr user Stormwhiskers, (if you have an A03 let me know and i'll gift it :-P) I really hope you enjoy this little bit of Hunk&Pidge interaction!
> 
> Also this is not Beta'd so any mistakes are my own :-P

Pidge was sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter keeping Hunk company, and she had been for the past hour or so. Hunk had been mixing, and slicing and kneading, and the two of them had been chatting about all the little things they always did. After procrastinating though the typical subjects, it seemed Pidge had finally worked up the courage to ask what she’d come for in the first place.

“So Hunk…” she started nervously.

He smiled slightly. “Yeah?”

“This thing… later…”

Hunk nodded; that ‘thing’ was why he was cooking so much. These fruit deserts needed to be perfect for the formalities that night.

“The Lomians… they’re not gonna… pull out of the alliance if we- well, if our performances suck-“ she looked up from the bowl she was stirring in her lap-“ Are they?”

He shrugged. “Probably not. Lance thinks the idea is to give everyone a chance to show off and feel good about themselves, but I think it’s more to show that everyone has their own strengths, and weaknesses.”

She hummed. “Yeah but both you and Lance always give everyone the benefit of the doubt. You’re too nice for your own good.” 

Hunk chuckled. “Aww, thanks Pidge.”

She shrugged. “Now, I get that it’s part of their culture,” she continued, “that we bring something or do something that presents our own individual strengths as a symbol that each of us are committed to the allegiance…”

“Yep! So what’s up? What- you still can’t think of anything?”

She grimaced. “What I’m not so sure about… what if they don’t like what we present to them? What if somewhere in their laws its written that if someone sucks enough they can refuse the alliance? I just don’t want mine to be the one that… leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth, you know what I mean? I’m not exactly a people person.”

He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Even as a kid, I was more of a geek than anything; computers speak my language, you know? But it’s hard to perform in what amounts to a talent show when your only gift is technobabble.”

Hunk opened his mouth to protest- she was good at so much more than endlessly confusing the others with her brilliant mind- but she interrupted him before he could start.

“No, no-“ she shook her head, “that wasn’t a call for attention. I’m awesome in lots of other ways and I know it, don’t worry.” She shot him a small grin, “I’m just… not so good with the biological component.” She shrugged, trying to downplay her doubts. “The people part.”

Hunk frowned and he put down the knife and wiped his hands in case a hug was needed “That’s not true Pidge, you talk to us all the time just fine!”

Pidge blushed. “No, I snap at you guys. I do know the difference. And to be honest,” she paused. “Sometimes I /am/ sorry about it. Sometimes. Most of the time you deserve it.”

Hunk chuckled. “Naww snapping, that’s just how you converse with us lesser mortals. We all know it, and accept you for it. Also, Pidgey? I don’t think you snap as much as you think you do.”

Pidge glared at him. “Hunk.” She huffed, “Please. I’m trying to maintain some sort of a reputation, at least in my own mind.”

Hunk quickly smoothed the grin off his face into a mock serious expression. “Right, right of course, snapping all the time. We never hear the end of it.”

Pidge giggled. “That's better.”

Hunk winked, and went back to slicing the local fruit he’d gathered, smile on his face. “So, you never answered my question. What are you gonna do tonight?”

“Well… I have an idea... but I was hoping you could help me out?”

“Aw yeah of course! Wha’da’ya need?”

Pidge explained what she's as looking for, and Hunk nodded along. It was brilliant, but he didn’t expect anything less from a girl like Pidge. This was gonna be awesome.

∞∞∞

That evening, there was an event was held on Lomase, the planet that Voltron had recently freed from Galra control. The Lomians were a social species, and they’d invited the Castle inhabitants to participate in was called a ‘Crimdoi’ve, a custom that served as their means of solidifying treaties. In the case of big alliances like the one with Voltron would be, each member of both parties was required to present everyone in attendance with something that they had made, or perform in some manner for their fellow guests. Of course Allura had jumped at the opportunity to have another planet join their alliance, and so all members of the Voltron team were in attendance, (some were more happy about the evening’s activities than others). 

Lance had amazed their fellow guests with a target show not half a varga before, happy to be able to add something personal to the usually stiff political process. Pidge smiled slightly as she remembered the look of utter bewilderment on Lance’s face when different dignitaries had come forward to commend him on his excellent marksmanship, and the shy and genuine smile that had spread across his face when he’d realized that they meant what they were saying, that they weren’t just being polite.

She caught a flash of red in the corner of her eye, and saw Keith shy away once again from the attention his own display had garnered. He’d been the most loathe to participate in the first place, but somehow Shiro and Lance had convinced him to come. Keith had done a rather impressive display with his swords earlier, demonstrating a double wielding technique using both his bayard and his Luxite blade that had been incredibly impressive even by the Marmora Standards, if Kolivan’s reaction was anything to judge it by.

Pidge suddenly shivered, and swallowed thickly as she noticed Laeja, the Lomian who was organizing the Crimdoi’ve spot her, and weave their way through the crowd over to her.

All of a sudden she felt something small and square pushed into her grip, and Hunk gave her hand a tight squeeze around the object.

She exhaled in relief, Hunk had come through, she knew he would. They’d finished in the machine shop before the event, but Hunk had insisted he wanted to add something else. It took all of her patience not to open her hand right there and then to see what he’d added. “And… everyone else?” she asked nervously.

“They’ve got them. I enlisted Lance’s help- although didn’t tell him why.” He bit his lip. “I didn’t think you would mind?”

She thought about it for a moment, then chuckled. “Yeah definitely not. The suspense has got to be driving him crazy.”

“Just a little bit. He keeps checking them for mini screens, or trick buttons.”

“Well yeah- Lance won’t be able to trust that they are nothing but exactly what they look like- my reputation’s too good for that.” She grinned.

“He actually asked me if I would warn him before ‘whatever it is she’s got up her sleeve goes down’.” Hunk told her, and smiled wide.

“And?” Pidge prompted.

“Of course I told him that that would just ruin the surprise.”

Pidge cackled, “Hunk- my man, you are a beautiful human being!”

“I try,” Hunk winked at her then turned as Laeja- a Lomian who had gifted them each at the very beginning with a carved pen of his creation with ink that changed colours depending how tired you were- advanced towards Pidge. 

“You’re up I guess?” Hunk asked.

She turned to him, suddenly wide eyed. “Hunk- I haven’t done this in so long- what if I mess it up?”

“You won’t.”

“But-“

“Pidge, stop thinking for a minute. You’re going to be fine.”

“But I haven’t had time to practice or anything!”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

She nodded.

“I haven’t tried the deserts I made.”

“Wait- what?”

“I have absolutely no clue what they taste like- I mean, the fruit is supposed to taste like apples. And when they were raw they had that same sweet yet bitter quality- but I’m too nervous to try them now- I mean, apples don’t inflate and change colour when you cook them- do they?”

“Hunk!”

Laeja reached their side as Hunk winked at her. “You got this.”

The Lomian frowned, but bowed slightly to Pidge, and started speaking as soon as Hunk was far enough away.

“Paladin, this evening, will you be presenting a gift you have created, or sharing a skill with your new allies?”

“Laeja-Dek,” Pidge addressed the Lomian as Allura had taught them and bowed slightly, then bit her lip and looked around nervously. “Umm, both, I guess? Although I didn’t make them, Hunk- I mean, The Yellow Paladin, he helped.”

“But the skill is your own? I must remind you that it is incredibly impolite to share a skill or gifts that do not come from yourself.”

“Yeah. Yeah, It’s-it’s mine.” She’d worked for it after all.

Laeja nodded, and lead her through the small, yet comfortably busy room to the swarm of nanobots that served as a microphone. (Microphones? She wasn’t sure. She’d have to ask about that when her head wasn’t so full of nerves.)

“Here to amaze us,” Laeja spoke confidently, “I present, the Green Paladin of Voltron!”

Pidge blushed, but bowed slightly in thanks, just as Allura had told them to.

“Uhh- Hi.”

There were muffled greetings and several nods from the audience, and a couple chuckles. She shot Lance a dark look and he grinned.

“So, a few min- doboshes ago, you were each given a bag with a small square item inside. Could you, umm, take those out, please?”

There was a rustle as the guests did as they were told, and she head a gasp from off to the left. Looking over she saw Shiro, a massive grin plastered across his face. “Is this what it looks like?” He mouthed to her.

She nodded, a grin of her own starting to form.

“Now, uhh” she paused, not quite sure how to start off. “Umm it’d be great if everyone could… participate?” Ugh she sounded like a child. “As you can see, all of the sides of the cube rotate and move.” That was a little better “Your task is to try and arrange the cube so that each side has only a single symbol or colour on it.”

Looking at her own as she spoke, she amended her words as she saw what Hunk had done. He’d put a symbol on each of the sides to match the colours there, and she praised his brilliance. Of course there was no way to know what hues were visible to all the species of guests, Symbols were a much better option. She mentally kicked herself for not having thought of it.

She turned her attention back to the guests, and gave them about three minutes to play with the Rubix Cubes. She watched in amusement as Lance barely touched his own, constantly glancing over to Hunk to find nothin revealed in his features. She saw Shiro bite his lip in concentration, and Coran try talking to the cube, throwing it up in the air and watching it disappointingly fall down before finally fidgeting with the sides. Allura was actually doing quite well, and had almost two sides solved, by the time Pidge spoke again, and Keith was stubbornly doing nothing. She frowned slightly, and he smirked at her. She’d have to find out what that meant later. For now…

“Uhh- if I could have your attention again? Thanks.” They looked back up at her, expressions varied from bewildered to frustrated to amused. “So these- they’re a pretty common old fashioned puzzle on our planet, strangely addictive, and strangely difficult. They’re called Rubix Cubes. Has anyone managed to solve it?”

No one spoke up.

“Oh, good.” Pidge breathed a sigh of relief. “Then you’ll want to see this.” She held up a cube of her own. “All the sides are different- and mixed up- yeah?” She held it out to the individual standing nearest, and invited him to shuffle it. 

“Wait- aren’t we supposed to be solving it?” They asked, confused.

Pidge grinned “Yep. I just don’t want anyone to be able to accuse me of cheating.”

The Lomian frowned but did as they were asked, and handed it back to her. 

“Alright, watch closely,” she warned them, and then got to work with her cube.

They weren’t hard if you knew the trick, and boy had she perfected it trying to beat Matt when they were kids. She looked at each of the sides, found the pattern, and what felt like moments later, the cube was solved.

There was a lot of noise all of a sudden, and she cringed. Some loved it, some called her a cheater-(despite her attempt to avoid that) and some just groaned with frustration.

She thought for a moment, then tossed her cube to the nearest naysayer, and invited them to toss their own cube over. The guests timed her this time. It took Pidge about 6 ticks to solve the cube.

∞∞∞

“That went so well!” Hunk nudged her gently, “Although I bet you’re getting sick of showing all these people how to solve it.”

Pidge grimaced. “I’m more worried about Lance and Coran’s pestering when we get back to the Castleship-- athough at this point I might just enlist Keith’s help- I mean, who knew he’d pick it up so fast?” 

(Actually, she had a suspicion that he’d already been able to do it, and that was why he hadn’t even tried to solve it earlier when she’d invited the room to participate.)

Hunk shrugged. “It’s Keith” he said, as though that explained everything. “But he still can’t beat your time.”

“And he never will,” she swore, then grinned. “Your fruit desert went over well too!” He’d presented about half a varga after her, and received rousing praise. “Did you try it yet?”

“Of course!” He smiled mischievously. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“What?” She leant in close.

“A chef always tastes his food.”

“Wha-Hunk!” She gave him a shoulder punch, “you lied?!”

He shrugged, but his face was filled with joy. “I had to get you thinking about something else didn’t I? And it worked! I knew you would be fine if you just stopped worrying, so I got you to worry for me instead. It works every time!”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I suppose.” She admitted grudgingly, then what he said fully registered- “Wait- you’ve done that before?”

“Uhh-” he looked away nervously.

“Wait- the new comms system-“ Pidge said suddenly, “and that altean recipe you couldn’t read? And that spice you weren’t sure of its after effects, and you had accidentally added to dinner- that was when I was looking through those security feeds…” she looked up at him with an expression torn between gratitude and wonder. “Aw Hunk!” She latched her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug.

He returned the embrace gently with a grin, and patted her on the head. “Sometimes you just gotta get out of your own head- you know? It happens to me to, and I know how frustrating it can be. So I try to help when I can.”

“You’re a good friend Hunk. I hope you know that. The best.”

“Aw Thanks, Pidge. You’re a good friend too you know. Even when you’re snapping, we love you for it, just like we know you love us.”

“Yeah.” Pidge sighed. “I really do.”

They stayed in the hug for another few ticks before Hunk pulled back. “So- can I tell you another secret?”

Pidge narrowed her eyes. “Another one?”

He nodded guiltily. “Well, you know how I said I wanted to add something to the cubes…”

“And they had the symbols, that was genius!” Pidge praised.

“Well… I may have done something to Lance’s cube…”

There was a shriek from the other side of the room, and both Pidge and Hunk looked at each other, giggles barely suppressed, and then spoke in unison.

“Quiznak.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hunk’s ‘apple’ deserts were inspired by this apple blossom desert with puffed pastry that my chef brother makes sometimes for family gatherings- OMG delicious!
> 
> At the Crimdoi’ve, Coran presented a poem that he’d written for the occasion, Allura recited part of a play that had been a favourite of hers as a child, and if anyone has ideas for what Shiro could do I’m open to suggestions. :D
> 
> The designs on the sides of the Rubix Cubes are the symbols and colours for each of the Lions, and a final white side with a symbol for the Alteans to make six. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading guys! Comments and Kudos always appreciated! ~M


End file.
